The Atlanta Falcons could be the ones to benefit from this significant piece of news.
The Atlanta Falcons are headed into the meat of their season, a campaign which really feels like it's only now just beginning with the quarterback situation resolved and getting one in the win column.
With the entire NFC South at either 1-2 or 0-3, it looks like it will be another tight and winnable race throughout the season, one which really gets going this week with a matchup against the New Orleans Saints. A case can be made for all four teams to have a real shot at this thing, but one -- and perhaps the favorite -- just got dealt a very significant injury blow.
According to reports this week, Carolina Panthers star cornerback Jaycee Horn is going to miss approximately 6-12 weeks of the season with a torn quad he suffered during Week 3, which will greatly limit the defending champions of the division on defense. Notably, this shakes things up for all four teams.
Panthers Without Star Defensive Player Could Work to Falcons Benefit
It's an unfortunate reality, but injuries are inevitable in this league and which team weathers those storms better than others frequently decides who is going to come out on top. Potentially missing arguably their best defensive player for up to three months is absolutely a significant development for Carolina, and one which could cost them their shot to repeat as NFC South champions.
Given that the Falcons do not play the Panthers again until the final week of the regular season, Horn will likely be back by that point, but a Carolina defense which has already shown some real struggles may not be able to survive Horn being out.
If the Panthers secondary gets even worse than it has looked the first three weeks of the year -- not counting the game against Atlanta where the Falcons fielded a non-competitive offense -- then they are going to lose a whole lot of games.
With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking like a complete mess, this could mean the race comes down to Atlanta and its most hated rival in New Orleans. Of course, Carolina could absolutely still be a factor here, it just gets a whole lot more difficult for them now.
The South is there for the taking, and who steps up and seizes it remains to be seen over the coming months. This injury to Horn feels like a major factor here though,
